I usually go with a
theme for my Sunday Selections and this week I'm continuing with some photos from my visit to the Zoo.

This week, Monkeys.

not sure what monkey these two are,

I think Macaques.

the Orang-Utans like to hide under blankets.

she's coming out....

eating something.She didn't come right out and walk around, so we moved on. I heard on the news last night that she is (or may be) pregnant again. Her first two pregnancies haven't been successful, the previous baby being stillborn or dying soon after birth.

the golden gibbon and the young black one.

and the baby golden gibbon. That's her arm and leg wrapped around Mum. At the time of taking this photo Zoo staff were still unsure as to gender, a week later we learned the baby is a girl and a notice was in the newspaper asking for ideas for her name. The black gibbon is the older sibling, a brother.

Why not visit Delores's site and see what others have done with these in her comments section. There are some mighty talented people there!

Without further ado, here is my rather long contribution. Perhaps you should get a cuppa before you start. And a couple of fairy cakes.(How many of you remember Runaway Kim? Working in the diner?)

I need a little help deciding where chapter two should finish and chapter three begin, please. I've made a break line at the possible change point.

Runaway KimChapter Two and Three

With business going so
well lately, Stuart had offered Kim a permanent job at the diner and Kim had
decided to take it.

In spite of Detective Riley.

She was tired of moving on,
more importantly, Kim thought that Bitty was the town she had been looking for.

Maybe she could finally find the answers she’d been seeking. She had asked
Stuart if he could recommend a place for rent.

He'd sent her to see Mrs
Cosgrove, who handled most of the tiny town's rental properties, while her
husband George handled sales.

Cecelia Cosgrove had
asked a few questions. What was Kim looking for? A house? A flat? Did she need
a yard? Finally deciding together that a decent sized flat would be best,
Cecelia had given Kim the addresses of several places.

She'd spent most of the
day looking at flats, there were only four available, but Kim had spent quite a
bit of time in each one, getting a feel of the place, checking room sizes, the
view and so on.

The very best flat was on the top floor of the building at the
corner of Eagle Street and Hawk Avenue,both named for the birds that lived in the areas before the town had
spread this way.

There were still hawks to be seen now and again, but the
eagles had long since gone.

Poachers had killed them off in the early sixties
and sold their tail feathers as genuine Apache artifacts.

This flat was the
largest with two bedrooms and a balcony and Kim hoped the rent was negotiable.
The view was amazing. Miles and miles of fields, with mountains backing them
and a few small woodsy areas between.

Most of the rest of the
tenants seemed okay too, Kim had spoken to a few of them while walking around
the block admiring the trees on Hawk Avenue where the entrance to the flats
was. It was a mixed block for sure, people of all ages living there.

She'd been
immensely pleased to hear the happy sounds of a birthday party coming from the
ground floor flat. Knocking on the door, she was greeted warmly by Megan
O'Brien, who had lived there for most of her married life and invited her in
for a cup of tea.

"Oh, but I don't
want to interrupt the party," said Kim. "I just have a few questions
about the flat and the area. I can come back tomorrow."

"Nonsense, you're
here now, come on in, maybe we can find you a fairy cake or two to go with that
cup of tea," said Megan.

"It's my grand-daughter's
fourth birthday, but she won't mind at all," Megan said as she led Kim
into a bright cheery room filled with giggles and fairy wings, where ten little
girls danced around with balloons and ribbon streamers.

"I would like to
know more about the other tenants," Kim began as Megan got out cups and saucers
and put the kettle on. "In particular, that gentleman in number Four. He
seemed a little...strange, a little rough, spoke to me only in almost menacing
monosyllables. Is there anything you can tell me? Should I avoid him if I move
into number Six?"

"Don't you worry
about Bob Smith," said Megan as she sat down and placed a plate of fairy
cakes in front of Kim.

Cecelia Cosgrove phoned me earlier and said you might be
around, I told her I'd give you all the information you might be wanting.

Now
Bob Smith is a little odd, but he's very harmless, he's lived here longer than
I have and I've never had a lick of trouble from him. He does sound a bit scary
with his 'No! Go! Shoo! Off! Off!' and those frowning eyebrows are quite off
putting too, but once he gets used to seeing you about in the building, he'll
be fine."

"Well, that's good
news," said Kim, "this is the best flat I've seen and I'd like to
take it and move in as soon as possible. I don't have much so it won't take
long to move from where I am, I've been staying with Stuart, he owns the diner,
and has let me stay in his spare room. But I'd like my own place, since I've
decided to stay in Bitty."

“Do you have time to sit
and chat for a while?” asked Megan. “My daughter won’t be picking up the girls
for another hour.”

“I do have plenty of
time,” said Kim, “unless you think I should get back and sign the lease for the
flat straight away?”

“Not at all necessary
dear,” said Megan. No one else has been interested in it, you’re the only new
person in town, I’ll just phone Cecelia and she’ll have it ready to sign in the
morning.”

“Thank you,” said Kim as
she settled back in her chair. She had a feeling she was going to like Megan O’Brien
very much.

As soon as the phone
call was over, Megan called all the little girls to the low table by the
television and shared out plates of fairy cakes and glasses with small amounts
of lemonade, then turned on the dvd player with a movie about Fairies.

She came back to the
dining table. “Now, about Bob Smith,” she began. “He’s a little odd, but
harmless as I said before, he’s had a rough time since living in that hippie
village in the sixties.

There were about a hundred young people out there,
camping in the ruined barn, some of them looked far too young to me, I suspect
they’d run away from home, and the goings on out there! Oh My!

I’m certainly
glad my girls didn’t get caught up in that Hippie movement, being only ten and
twelve they were safe enough I think.

Anyway, those kids out there lived what
they called a “free” lifestyle, some called it “alternative”. Fringe living I
suppose it might be called today, living on the edge of society as they did. Do
you want another cup of tea dear?”

“Oh yes please,” said
Kim, “these fairy cakes are delicious.”

“I made them myself,’
said Megan, “from scratch, I don’t like those packet mixes. They’re easy, but
there’s not much real flavour to them. Not like home made.”

She poured the tea. “Now
where was I? Oh yes, the hippie barn. There was a lot going on out there, kids
all sleeping together, changing partners like it didn’t matter, smoking that
Marijuana, and taking that LSD stuff too.

I don’t know where they
got it from, none of them ever had any money to pay for drugs or even food. Nobody
worked at all. I expect many of them didn’t eat either, they got awfully skinny
and walked around like zombies, half out of their minds they were.

Well, it was
that LSD stuff that was the ruin of Bob Smith.

He didn’t smoke much, we learned
all this later of course, but he took that LSD every day. Said it was “mind-blowing”.
Well, it blew his mind alright!

I was a nurse back then and worked at the
hospital when a couple of them drove into town on that old tractor of Ted’s,
and dropped Bob at the front doors. Didn’t dare come in I suppose.

Well, we
took Bob in and he was so emaciated! Having hallucinations too, seeing miniature
aliens climbing up his legs all the time. The resident psychiatrist worked with
him for years and Bob gradually came good, but he still has occasional
flashbacks and hardly talks at all, except to the aliens.

To Bob, anyone new is
an alien and that’s why he most often says things like Go! No! Get! Off! Leave!”

“That’s
really sad,” said Kim. “Does he remember who he was before all this happened? Anything at all about himself or his family?”